June 2012

06/20/2012

On June 20, 2012, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) directed the Open Market Trading Desk (the Desk) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasury securities. Specifically, the Desk was directed to purchase Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 6 years to 30 years and to sell or redeem an equal par value of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of approximately 3 years or less. The continuation of the maturity extension program will proceed at the current pace and result in the purchase, as well as the sale and redemption, of about $267 billion in Treasury securities by the end of 2012.

The FOMC also directed the Desk to continue reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in agency MBS, and to suspend, for the duration of the maturity extension program, rolling over maturing Treasury securities into new issues at auction.

Purchases of Treasury securities for the maturity extension program will be distributed across five sectors using the same approximate weights that have been used in the purchases to date:

*The on-the-run 10-year note will be considered part of the 8- to 10-year sector.**TIPS weights are based on unadjusted par amounts.

This distribution could be altered if market conditions warrant.

A combination of sales and redemptions of Treasury securities will be conducted to match the amount of purchases over the program. Sales of Treasury securities will take place in securities maturing between January 2013 and January 2016. Securities maturing in the second half of 2012 will be redeemed—that is, allowed to mature without reinvestment—since redeeming maturing Treasury securities has a nearly identical effect on the portfolio as selling securities that are approaching maturity. Once the maturity extension program is completed, the Federal Reserve will hold almost no securities maturing through January 2016.

The Desk will continue to publish a tentative schedule of operations for the following calendar month on or around the last business day of each month. The schedule will include the anticipated amount of redemptions, purchases and sales to be conducted, operation dates, settlement dates, security types (nominal coupons or TIPS) to be purchased or sold, the maturity date range of eligible issues, and an expected range for the size of each operation. The next schedule of operations will be released on Friday, June 29.

The FOMC announced their decision to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 - 1/4 percent. The statement confirmed the FOMC intends to keep the federal funds rate low through late 2014 and revealed the plan to continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities:

FOMC Statement: Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the economy has been expanding moderately this year. However, growth in employment has slowed in recent months, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Business fixed investment has continued to advance. Household spending appears to be rising at a somewhat slower pace than earlier in the year. Despite some signs of improvement, the housing sector remains depressed. Inflation has declined, mainly reflecting lower prices of crude oil and gasoline, and longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up very gradually. Consequently, the Committee anticipates that the unemployment rate will decline only slowly toward levels that it judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Furthermore, strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. The Committee anticipates that inflation over the medium term will run at or below the rate that it judges most consistent with its dual mandate.

To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at the rate most consistent with its dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014.

The Committee also decided to continue through the end of the year its program to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities. Specifically, the Committee intends to purchase Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 6 years to 30 years at the current pace and to sell or redeem an equal amount of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of approximately 3 years or less. This continuation of the maturity extension program should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative. The Committee is maintaining its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in agency mortgage-backed securities. The Committee is prepared to take further action as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability.

Nonfarm payroll employment changed little in May (+69,000), and the unemployment was essentially unchanged at 8.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in health care, transportation and warehousing, and wholesale trade but declined in construction. Employment was little changed in most other major industries...[Continue]